Voters in EBR approve measure to fund Council on Aging

BATON ROUGE- Voters in East Baton Rouge Parish sent a strong message on Election Day in support of the parish's seniors.

A property tax was approved that will double the size of the Council on Aging's budget. Director Tasha Amar said it will allow her organization to continue helping those in need.

"Right now, we have over 5,000 people on a waiting list," Amar said. "The great thing about this tax passing is not only will we be able to serve seniors first, remove those folks off the waiting list...and those we are currently serving will go from eating five days a week to seven days a week."

Edna Allen depends on the EBR Council on Aging. She was grateful when she learned voters approved a funding source for the agency.

"It's my home away from home," Allen said.

The property tax would be based off of your home's assessed value. After the homestead exemption, for every $100,000 of your home's value you can expect to pay about $22.

"What we are doing now is we have a plan, the board is going to meet, we will finese that plan," Amar said. "In January we will do community meetings in each council district so we can buy in from those who support us, and those that didn't so we can do what's best for the community."

Amar expects her organization to get the money in 2018 since property taxes are collected at the end of the year.